Vehicle spring



W. W. WOOD VEHICLE SPRING May a, 1927.

Filed June 7, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Wafer W h oaal May 3, 1927- w, w.wobD VEHICLE SPRING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 7, 19

gnocntoz sprin s Patented May 3, 1927. I

' UNITED STATES 'WLIA'IER WQ WOOD, OI CANTON, OHIO.

VEHICLE SPRING.

Application filed June 7, 198% Serial 110. 566,556.

The invention relates to supporting and the object 'ofthe improvement isto provide spring means between. the wheels and the chassis of avehicle, which will permit or cause the chassis totravel in a plane sub-'stantially" parallel to the general plane of the road while the wheelsare surmounting or riding over protrusions or depressions in the road.

Ordinary vehicle springs usually permit, more or less freely, a'verticalmovement of the chassis with reference to the wheels, without permittingany considerable longitudinal movement between the same parts;- and suchsprings have -frequentl been supplemented by various kinds of s ockabsorbers, many of which permit a vertical, without much, if anyhorizontal movement, of the chassis upon the wheel,

It has also been pro osed, if not generally practiced, to provide or'aspring controlledmovementbetween -the' chassis and the wheels, directlylongitudinal of the chassis,

so as topermit the wheels to tem orarily pause or lag when meeting anobstac c, without inuclnif any, eti'ect upon the momentum or forwardmovement of the chassis.

Each of these different forms of springs.

serve a particular and useful-purpose, but none of them used separatelyor combined, to .my' knowledge, serve to minimize the vertical movementof the chassis with reference to the wheels, or cause the same to moveparallel to the eneral plane of the road, which is the resudt attainedby the means set forth herein. 1 I

y The present improvement involves the use of spring slide and guidemeans extending u ward and rearward from the wheel spin- (1 es, andpreferably located in rear of torsion sprin s, pivotally connected wlthtrunnion spin les located above the wheel spi'n- I dies; so that theinitial impact of anohstacle, tending to cause the wheel to stop or lag,will tend to cause the chassis to move. downward upon the inclined slideguide because of its orward momentum, and therebyneutralize or absorbthe effect of the upward movement of the wheel as it rises to surmountthe obstable, either directly u l or by la ging behind the trunnion sind es when 51o vehicle is traveling rapidly.

In other words, an important purpose of the invention is to providepractlcal and for "automobiles and other vehicles;

pward when the vehicle is traveling slow:

effective sprin means, so designed that whenthe whee encounters anobstacle, the mechanical couple or moment formed b the momentum of thecar on' the one ban and the horizontal component of the reaction of theobstacle on the other hand automatically counteracts or neutralizes theupward thrust vdelivered to the frame by the wheel as the latter risesover obstacles, inasmuch as this distance between the two spindles; theris mg of the wheel to surmount an obstacle without elevating thechassis, being primarily or-principally permitted by inclinedspring-controlled guide and slide means.

In other words, when an obstacle is encountered, the major portion ofthe rising of the wheelris permitted by a compression of the inclinedguide spring, and the 'major part of the lagging of the wheel ispermitted by a twisting or tightening of the trunnion torsion s rin sothat when the wheel has passed tie o stacle, both springs exert theirmaximum force to recover the wheel to normal position.

Thus, when the wheel of a forwardl moving vehicle impin es on an obstace, the wheel may lag while it is surmounting the obstacle by acompression of the slide spring and if the obstacle is high enough afurther rising of the wheel will be accommodated by a twisting of thetrunnion spring, both actions bein accomplished without any rising ofthe c assis; and after the wheel has ridden over the obstacle thecombined action or chassis and wheels of a vehicle showing the improvedspring supporting means for the chassis;

Fi .II, a IL-fI, Fig. 1, showing theapplication of the im rovementto adriving wheel;

Fig. II, a section on line lIl--HI, Figs. l and V, showing theapplication of the improvement to a steeringwheel;

Fig. TV, a plan view of the spring means for a steering wheel; and

Fig. V, a section on line and IV, with thewheel removed, showing anend'view of the wheel spindle.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts, throughout the drawings.

Trunnions 1 are secured by brackets 2 or other suitable means tothe-side of the frame or chassis 3' of a vehicle, and upon the trunnionsare transverse bearings 4.

formed or secured on the forward side of tubular bearings 5 in which areslidably;

mounted piston rods 6 having L-spindles on the lower ends for the hub 8of a steering wheel 9, or the nut 8 of a driving wheel 9". p w

A torsion spring 10 is coiled freely around the transverse bearinghaving one end 11 adjustably connected to the bracket 2 and the otherend 12 extended upward in rear of the bearing and thence outwardaroundthe forward side. of the cylindric bearing, so as to restrain aclockwise turning and impel an anti-clockwise turning of the transversebearing on the trunnion as viewed from the right side of the vehicle.

A stop arm 1.3 is provided on each transverse bearing and a stop bracket14 is provided on each bracket in which is mounted a stop sprin forcushioning and stopping the anti-cloc wise turning of a right sidehearing when the axis of the wheel spindle is directly below the axis ofthe trunnion.

Each tubular bearing 5 is provided with heads 15 and 15 forming journalbearings 16 and 16 in which the piston rods 6 are adapted to slideendwise and to rotate, and a tubular shield is preferably provided onthe upper head 17 for enclosing the upper end of the piston rod.

A piston 18 is secured to the piston rod Within the tubular bearing .anda spiral compression spring 19 is located between the piston and theupper head of the bearing; which spring is strong enough to normally suport the portion of the load of the vehic e imposed upon it, whileyielding to the unusual shock caused by the wheel riding over anobstacle. A coiled compression spring 20 may also beprovided between thepiston 18 and the lower head of the tubular bearing to cushion an upwardmovement of the chassis or a downward reaction of the wheel.

For a rear or driving wheel 9', the lower fragmentary section on line.

VV, Figs. in.

reaaaee end of the piston rod 6 is provided with a bearing for a driveaxle 21, the inner end of which is connected to adrive shaft 22 by aflexible joint 23', on the outer end of which is mounted a drive wheel9'. The lower end of the'same piston rod is provided with a forwardlyextending arm 24 having a guide rod 25 extending upward in front of andparallel with the tubular guide and operating .in a guide 26 provided onthe forward side of. the transverse hearing; which slide rod and guideserves to hold the piston rod from turning in its bearing.

For a forward or steering wheel the lower end or the piston rod isformed with an lL-arm 27 terminating in a spindle 7 upon which isjournaled the hub 8 of the forward wheel 9; and the lower end of thesame piston rod is provided with, a rearwardly extending crank arm 29connected with a steering rod, not shown, by means of which the pistonrod 6 may be rotated for steering the vehicle.

The torsion spring .lQ-and the compression spring 19 may be andpreferably are each strong enough tosustain that portion of the weightand the load of the car which is imposed upon the corresponding wheel.As the axis or the wheel is normally located immediately below the axisof the trunnion, the torsion spring does not normally .carryany portionof the load until the wheel lags rearward with respect to the trunnion;but the compression spring is always supporting a major part of theload, and for that reason it, responds to the initial shock of anobstacle and permits the wheel to rise until aturning of the transversebearing upon the trunnion brings the torsion spring into play.

All of these actions and reactions occur without any material restraintto the forward movement of the vehicle, the momentum of which carries itforward parallel with the road while the combined yielding action of thecompression and torsion springs permit the wheel to rise to pass over anobstacle and to recover contact with the road without materiallyaffecting the even travel of the vehicle. This is due to the con- 1struction which permits the horizontal component of the reaction'fromthe obstacle to impress, set up,or be translated into a turning movementon the mass-center affected. This movement results in a downward pull onthe vehicle frame which tends to neutralize the upward thrust which thevehicle frame simultaneously receives fromthe vertical component of thereaction.

Each tubular and transverse bearing thus constitute a rocking memberjournaled on a trunnion, and the compression or primary spring permitsan, upward movement of a wheel independent of the torsion spring and thetorsion spring permits a rearward ill) movement independent of thecompression spring; and the action of the secondary torsion spring givesthe primary compression spring time within which to function when avehicle is traveling at faster speeds.

When a wheel rides into a depression, the first action is an expansionof the compression spring which tends to move the wheel downward andforward morequickly than the vehicle subsides, until the wheel strikesthe bottom or the further side of the depression, whereupon the springsoperate substantially as. described where a wheel meets an obstacle, andthe'vehicle gradually rises to its normal height from the roadway,without rebounding above the same.

I claim:

1. A vehicle spring support including a spring controlled rocking memberhaving a guideway therein normally inclined downward and forward, and aspring controlled spindle stem slidable endwise in the guideway androtatable therein.

2. A vehicle spring support including a spring controlled rocking memberhaving an upright guideway therein in rear of its axis, and a springcontrolled spindle stem slidable endwise in the guideway and rotatabletherein, the axis of rocking being diflerent from the axis of theguideway.

3. A vehicle spring support including a spring controlled rocking memberhaving an upright guideway therein in rear of its axis normally inclineddownward and forward, and a spring controlled spindle stem slidableendwise in the guideway and rotatable therein.

4. A vehicle spring support including a spring controlled rocking memberhaving an upright guide-way therein, and a screen controlled spindlestem slidable endwise in the guideway and rotatable therein, the axis ofrocking being different from the axis of the guldeway.

5. A vehicle spring support, including a rocking member having aguideway therein normally inclined downward and forward, a torsionspring controlling the rocking member, a spindle stem slidable endwisein the guideway, and a compression spring controlling the s indle stem.

6. A vehic e spring support including a spring controlled rocking memberhaving a normally inclined guideway therein normally inclined downwardand forward, a spindle normally located directly below the axis of therocking member, and a spring controlled stem on the spindle slidableendwise in the guideway.

7. A vehicle spring support including a spring controlled rocking memberhaving a normallyv inclined guideway therein normally inclined downwardand forward, a spring controlled stem slidable endwise in the guideway,a spindle on the stem, means for normally stopping rotation of therocking member one Way.

8. A vehicle spring support including a trunnion on the vehicle, a wheelspindle normally parallel to the trunnion, and connecting meanspermitting the spindle to move upward in rear of the trunnion also togyrate upon the same and also to swing from parallel therewith, thethree movements being operable independently of each other.

9. A vehicle spring support including a normally active compressionspring and a normally inactive torsion sprlng brought into action aftera yielding of the normally active spring, the actions of the springsbeing in different directions.

10. A vehicle spring support including a normally active spring, and anormally inactive spring brought into action after a yielding of thenormally active spring, the actions of the springs being in differentdirections.

WALTER W. WOOD.

